More Than a Thousand Protest in Beis Shemesh

Aug. 7, 2007

Sunday evening, more than a thousand Jews gathered in Beis Shemesh, under the leadership of gedolei hador, including Rabbi Tuvia Weiss, rav of Jerusalem, to express the pained cry of the three heroes who endure prison sentences for the honor of G-d's name, and, more recently, the terrible Inquistion-style methods of torture used on them for not agreeing to the proposal of the police that they go out on parole for four months with the condition that they never again fulfill the Torah's commandment of protesting against evil decrees. They will never agree to this!

The chairman, Rabbi Isaac Weiss dramatically told of the murderous acts of the police, and declared that religious Jewry will never give in.

Rabbi Nosson Kofshitz recited selichos and other prayers with the assembly. Rabbi Sender Erlanger and Rabbi Shaul Sirota exhorted the assembly not to give in to the anti-Torah demands of the police, although they have some religious sympathizers.

Rabbi Shaul Sirota cried out, "It is unbelievable that a Jew who puts on tefillin should spread such disgusting posters, and even put them in the mailboxes of the families of the prisoners!"

Rabbi Yishaya Rosenberger encouraged the activists and said that the unclean powers will in the end fall, and this is only one of the trials of our generation, that the Zionist defilement, in religious garb, wants to swallow up the bit of holiness that is still left.

At the end, as protesters were leaving, the police as usual prepared themselves with tens of horses. Dozens of riot police vans surrounded the assembly from all sides. Because of the bad publicity of their actions in the world, they are now careful not to beat religious Jews openly.

It must be stressed that the police are working on all fronts to stop the activists. For example, the announcers who went through the city on Friday announcing the demonstration over microphones were arrested, and their microphones were confiscated.

Also, the Jerusalem police forced the Mires company to cut off telephone service to the religious press, Marom, and sent them notice of fines reaching the sum of 40,000 shekels.